Treatments for Parvo – It is Possible to Cure Parvo in Dogs
September 15, 2009 by Tucker
Does your Dog Have Parvo Virus?
What exactly is parvo virus, what dog parvo treatments work, and how is parvo virus spread?
Parvo virus has been around for the past 30 years. It was initially identified in 1978 and within two years it spread over most of the world, causing devastation in its wake. Every different species has its own parvo virus and it cannot be spread outside of the species, so although it was originally thought that canine parvo virus could mutate into feline panleukopenia, a feline parvo virus, it is now know that there was no truth to this.
Although parvo virus cannot be spread from a dog to a cat or from a bird to a cat, it can be, and is commonly, spread by contact. For example if your cat happens to wander through your neighbor’s yard and picks up the virus on her feet, she can bring parvo virus into your home and your dog could be infected in this way. Unfortunately, the puppy that we acquired recently from an animal shelter came down with parvovirus. She had all of the classic dog parvo symptoms, yet we did not realize what was wrong. We took her to our vet and parvo treatment was commenced immediately. After a four day stay at the veterinary hospital, our puppy was ready to return home. But we were lucky. Our puppy was fortunate to have a parvo cure, but if you don’t treat parvo in the early stages, it will prove fatal (and very quickly).
The parvo virus works in one of two ways – through the heart or the intestines. The intestinal infection is picked up by an animal through oral contact with contaminated feces. In other words, a dog has to come into contaminated feces from another dog. The intestinal dog parvo symptoms happen when the virus attacks rapidly dividing cells in the intestinal crypts, lymph nodes and bone marrow. This allows normally occurring bacteria from the intestine to enter the blood stream make the animal contagious. The virus is shed in the stool for up to three weeks making this disease very contagious to non-vaccinated pets.
The cardio form of this infection is often seen in puppies that are infected from the womb or shortly after birth. It is well worth noting that the cardiac form of CPV is not as common since the mother passes immunity on to her puppies from birth. The parvovirus then attacks the heart in the infected pup and death results shortly thereafter.
Dog parvo symptoms are usually present within 3 to 10 days of contact. They include vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea and fever. The diarrhea will cause severe dehydration and secondary infections. Rather than dying from the virus itself, it is usually the secondary infections that kill.
A veterinarian will recommend that you get your pet vaccinated against parvo approximately eight weeks after the puppy is weaned. With the prevalence of this virus and its ability to kill, some precaution should be taken to protect your dog. Get your puppy vaccinated – we speak from experience!
But vaccinations don’t always give full coverage. Survival rate depends on how quickly parvo virus is diagnosed and treatment is begun. If it is not caught early enough, the usual conventional treatment is an IV through which fluids are pushed to re-hydrate the dog more quickly. In addition to the fluids, antibiotic and anti-nausea shots may be given intramuscularly. With the proper care the prognosis is good, but without it your dog is sentenced to an early death.
You can also buy natural treatments for dog parvo virus. But whichever type of parvo treatment you choose, choose it quickly. Do not delay in treating this deadly condition. You can use a home remedy for puppy parvo, but remember that a dog can die within hours of the first parvo symptoms appearing.
you can always call a pharmacist with a question like this. they are so smart and helpful.
you can find a 24-hour pharmacist in the yellow pages under 'pharmacies.' they have lots of ads.
good luck. ;]
broken arm. i'm typing one-handed. sorry….
RT Home cold remedy: Margaritas… Hmm, will keep this one in mind.
yeah u gotta watch the secondary infections from dirty slappers!! ;-p
I was surprised how unfazed I was- but I also swim in the ocean (which is a big huge neti pot) lol. The "graduate level" neti pot use is coming out your mouth, and being able to breath during. But initially just relax and breath through your mouth. I like doing it in the shower, because it’s easier to relax.
My thoughts wend that way more due to a quip the L&D nurses made when I went into Christus Santa Rosa Med Center (which no longer has a maternity ward). They mentioned that they get a lot of red heads that are bleeders.
While I didn't have bleeding problems during labor, I did have some a few hours afterwards. Namely in the way of passing a massive clot (large enough to concern the midwife on duty). So I was perscribed an utterly evil med for about 5 days total that would make my uterus clamp down harder to stop the bleeding. Of course making afterpains all the more uncomfortable. That was the extent of my bleeding complications, fortunatly. And yes, I've told my curent midwife about this.
The post labor clot thing that is.
Then there was the severe dehydration after I started throwing up with every contraction, forcing me to finally get an IV. This in part was the fault of the L&D nurses misinterpreting my birth plan request about waiting to administer pain drugs.
It took them almost an hour to get me the anti-nausia med shot.
If you don't want to go to the doctor now, how on earth are you going to cope with the army, where medical visits are mandatory?
Your digestive problem could be IBS or it could be Crohn's disease, or it could be colitis, or it could be a poor diet.
Your genital problem needs seeing to. None of us are doctors, and I'm certainly not going to try and be one on the internet. A doctor is there to help you, and will clear up all your problems.